Just Talking
by Litalainie
Summary: An unfortunate interruption sparks a few much needed conversations between Castle and the women in his life.
1. Chapter 1

**Just Talking**

"Seriously?!" Beckett said as the came to a halt at Castle's front door.

"Why not?" he replied, juggling a bag of take away and his jacket in his left hand whilst unlocking the door with his right.

"Why not? Castle, Brian Jackson was six foot two and three times her size. You're suggesting that not only did Amy overpower her husband in order to break his neck, but she then dragged him down her apartment hallway, _lifted _him through the window, pushed him down the fire escape stairs, at four o'clock in the afternoon, _all_ without being _seen_?"

"Like I said, why not?" The smirk on Castle's face as they walked through the door suggested that he had already noticed more than a few holes in his theory.

The case had been tedious and, at day four with few leads and no viable suspects, Beckett had called home time. Ryan and Esposito had walked bleary-eyed out of the 12th while Beckett and Castle had decided that his couch, bed, anything that they could get their feet up on, was calling their names.

At the loft they moved smoothly through what had become their evening eating routine. Castle uncorking wine while Beckett unpacked the Chinese boxes and headed to the couch. She sat down for all of three seconds before standing again, moving back towards the bedroom. "You know what, I'm gonna go take off my pants… _Not… _like that!" she continued, in answer to Castle's raised eyebrow and then waved her hands up and down her figure. "I just wanna take work… off."

"Sure, go take off as much as you want. I don't mind, but if you take too long I'm going to eat all the Moo Shu Pork." Castle stated as he moved to the couch.

"Not if you want to see me with _everything_ off later," Beckett's slightly muffled voice threw back from the bedroom.

"Promise?" he asked.

"Guess you'll never know," she chuckled as she walked back towards him, now changed into leggings and a blue t-shirt that hung off her shoulder. She'd thrown her hair into a loose braid and while she was still tired she at least felt relaxed enough to eat now.

"Wow, that was a quick change," Castle stated, his eyes drifting up and down, perusing her body. "How come it takes you so much longer to get dressed in the morning?"

"You're kidding me right?" she said, looking at him incredulously and then continued before he could answer. "For starters in the morning I have to put on work clothes and make-up _and _do my hair properly but, more than that, _YOU _take longer than me to get ready in the morning and have less clothing to put on!"

"You could always go bra-less, then we'd have the same amount to put on," he

said, raising his eyebrows a couple of times suggestively.

Beckett shook her head and punched him in the arm as she slid in next to him on the couch. "Because we'd get _so _much more work done with you picturing what underwear I'm _not _wearing."

He smiled dreamily, "Yeah, well maybe we'll just leave the bra-lessness for home." Then sliding the back of his hand up her side he though he'd check her current state of dress. "Ahh, you not wearing one either." He beamed at her. She grinned back triumphantly. "Eat your Kung Pao, Castle."

They ate in companionable silence until Beckett conclusively thudded her box down on the coffee table and stretched. "What time is it?" she asked looking around for her phone, before remembering it was probably in her pants, on the floor of the bedroom. Mentally she reminded herself that she should hang them up in the wardrobe before going to bed. Last time she left her jeans on the floor he'd ended up kicking them under the bed and she couldn't find them for a week. That was the hassle of having stuff at two houses; sometimes she couldn't remember at which place she had taken her clothes off. At least if she put things away in his wardrobe it narrowed down the search area. Not that there wasn't already plenty of her stuff in his wardrobe, and drawers and bathroom. "Not quite half," she reminded herself accidently out loud.

"Not quite half, what?" Asked Castle.

"Nothing," she answered. Nope. She was definitely not ready for _that_ discussion tonight.

"It's nine," said Castle as he started packing up their leftovers before heading to put the boxes in the fridge.

"Huh?" Beckett asked.

"You asked the time. It's nine. Man, you are tired." He closed the fridge and picked up the bottle of wine on the way back over to her.

"Yeah, well you kept me up kind of late last night."

"Oh, I think you did your fair share of keeping up, Beckett." He held up quotation fingers for the 'keeping up' part of his sentence.

"And you're complaining?"

"Me? I never complain about being… kept… up," he said, pausing between each word as he leaned in to kiss her gently. She reached up to cup his cheek before humming into his lips.

"Mmmmmm, garlic." He pulled back slightly to huff a gentle laugh.

"Which is why we both eat it, so it doesn't matter." Then he leaned back in, initiating a firmer kiss that started pushing her down onto the couch. This time one of her hands weaved back into the soft hair at the base of his head while the other slid under his shirt to feather up his sides. Slowly he slid down on top of her as he deepened the kiss. She mumbled into his lips.

"Martha?"

"No, I'm Castle. Ow!" he yelped, rubbing the side where she had pinched him.

"Gross," she mumbled, still kissing him until she pulled back a bit. "I mean, where is she?"

"Up state, " he replied, leaning back in to connect their lips again.

"Over…night?" she questioned, between locked lips.

"Yup." He grinned into her. Then his legs slid down as Beckett lifted hers up to wrap around his thighs. Once again there was no space between their lips to talk.

She moved both hands to his hips to pull him tighter onto her. Deftly, he slid his left hand under the elastic at the back of her leggings while his right hand glided up her t-shirt, on a familiar path home. Her humming turned to a deeper, more driven groaning, as they started to lose themselves in what was, for them, more akin to charting than exploring each other's bodies. Nimbly, her fingers unbuttoned his shirt and her nails grazed softly over his chest. All the sounds around them muted as the couple became absorbed in their own groans and gasps. The drone of the city outside disappeared completely, the fridge stopped humming and neither heard the slight 'click' at his heavy front door.


	2. Chapter 2

"_GAAH!... _DAD!... Oh… No… Oh… I… laundry… I mean…" Alexis dropped her laundry and turned back around, bumping her forehead on the now closed front door. For extra measure she then pushed her palms firmly into her eyes, desperately trying to burn the image of her dad with his hand up his girlfriend's top out of her mind.

Never had Castle and Beckett been so out of sync as they tried to scramble off each other. Beckett yelped as Castle used the hand he had on her right breast to push himself up. This in turn caused her to twist suddenly connecting her left hip sharply with his groin. He let out that deep guttural moan that only men, hit there, have and fell stiffly back down pinning Beckett to the couch again. She tried sliding up out from under him but his hand, still in the back of her leggings, started to pull them down as she moved away. She finally stopped when she realised that the only way for them to get out of this was for her to stay still while he got off her. "Castle… Get… Up," she growled between clenched teeth.

He looked up at her with watery, pained eyes and slowly, deliberately removed his hands from Beckett's clothing, then pushed himself up from the couch. Taking a breath he schooled his features and tried to sound not quite so embarrassed.

"Hey… Alexis. We didn't um… I wasn't expecting you home… tonight." He looked to Beckett for reassurance on his choice of words and tone, but the now seated women had her face buried in her hands.

"Um, I just needed to do some laundry," Alexis mumbled into the front door but pointed behind her as if she was trying to prove how she had ended up in this mortifying situation.

"Sure, um, Sweetie. Well you should go ahead, I mean… we were just…" Castle stopped mid sentence, as he felt rather than saw Beckett glare at him, ordering him with her eyes to 'shut up _right_ now.'

"Um, I'm just gonna go to the bathroom," Beckett almost spat out so that she could flee the room as quickly as possible. On the way, she gave Castle a look saying something which he wasn't quite sure how to read. It could have been 'I'm going to die of embarrassment,' 'I'm going to kill you' or 'I'm leaving the room so you can fix this.' He nodded blankly thinking that he was going to start with the third option and hope like hell they didn't get to the first two.

"Yeah, so Honey, there should be plenty of laundry soap. We… I mean I haven't really needed to use much this week." Castle spoke, desperately trying to find any words that would not connect back to what his daughter had just seen him doing with Beckett on the couch. He took two steps toward her, "Can I help you…"

"NO!" Alexis yelped as in one fluid movement she spun around, picked up her laundry and with her eyes glued to the laundry door walked speedily across the room.

Castle now found himself the sole occupant of a very vacant space trying to work out how on earth feeling up _his _girlfriend on _his _couch had gone so very, very wrong. He gazed slightly stunned from the couch to the laundry door then to his bedroom not sure where it was safe to go. Fortunately for him his phone chose that moment to ring. Fishing around in his pocket he pulled it out and looking at the screen chuckled. This had to be the first time in a _very_ long time that taking a phone call from Gina was a less evil option. "Hi Gina," he answered and headed towards his office. The woman on the other end of the line asked if 'this was a good time' and then, not waiting for a response launched in to what Castle was sure was going to be an excruciatinglylong lecture on the lack of his Authorly work ethic. As he listened to her drone on he poured himself a rather large scotch, plonked himself down behind his desk and settled in for the onslaught.

Beckett continued to stare into the mirror in the bathroom until she wasn't even really looking at herself anymore. She was too busy playing Alexis' horrified look over and over in her mind while she tried to decide whether she felt more embarrassed for Castle's daughter or mortified for herself. "Uuurg,… His hand was on my _boob,_" she said for at least the fifteenth time since she'd fled to the tiled sanctuary.

She wondered whether this was like walking in on your parents. She'd never actually done that, although she had heard them once. She hadn't realised what the soft moans coming through her bedroom wall meant at the time but… "Oh Crap! Now I've gotta get rid of that image too," she groaned.

Moments later she'd had enough and clapping her hands down on the counter she readied herself to brave the outside-of-the-bathroom world.

She slowly opened the door and padded across the bedroom, thinking as she walked that Castle must have had enough time to at least, maybe, apologise? She wasn't really sure what he could have said. What does a parent say to their child when they're caught groping their girlfriend? This was definitely unchartered territory for Beckett. All she knew was the next time she talked to Alexis was probably going to be the most awkward conversation she'd had since having to tell Captain Montgomery about their suspect getting plastic surgery 'down there.'

Stepping out into the kitchen she scanned the room for Castle and found not the elder, but the younger sitting at the dinning room table, absorbed in what appeared to be a very large textbook. Taking a deep breath Beckett pep-talked herself, whispering "For crying out loud Kate, you can interrogate serial killers, talking to an eighteen year old can't be worse. Even if she _has_ just caught you underneath her father." She rolled her eyes but she was pretty sure that Alexis knew she had come in to the room, so there was no backing out now.

**A/N**

**Hi everyone, thanks so much for the follows/alerts/favorites. To those of you who have reviewed... Wow, you're encouragement has been amazing. I'm having so much fun writing these awesome characters. Just thought I'd better state here that of course the usual Disclaimer applies. As much as I love playing with all these characters, they're not mine. **


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey… Alexis," Beckett broached, "I'm really sorry…"

"Detectivebeckett," Alexis interrupted, speaking so fast that the name sounded like one word, "can we please not have this conversation. I have an exam Tuesday and I really need to study."

"Sure," Beckett answered and then whispered a 'thank you' heavenward.

"Where's your Dad?" she answered, scanning the room, with a small part of her thinking that it wouldn't be completely unlike her boyfriend to flee the scene of the crime.

"In his office on the phone," Alexis replied without looking up. "He's just sitting there nodding so I'm guessing it's Gina." Beckett nodded, familiar with her Castle's 'talking to his ex-wife/publisher' pose. "Is he behind in his deadlines again?" the young woman added, looking up for the first time since Beckett entered the room.

"Not really," she replied, sensing the slight accusing tone in Alexis' voice. "He spent most of Monday writing before we had a body drop on Tuesday. It's probably about the signings she has booked for him in New England next month."

Beckett felt quite proud of her answer. Almost like she was proving not just to Alexis but also to herself how well she knew Castle. Which really shouldn't have come as a surprise to either women. She and Castle were together close to 24 hours a day lately. It would be hard not to know what he was up to.

"Right," Alexis nodded, acknowledging Beckett before turning back to her book.

Silence ensued, but not the comfortable kind that Castle and Beckett had enjoyed earlier. Beckett looked across to the man ensconced in his office and wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. Suddenly she felt so very tired and all she wanted was to escape to the comfort of her bed, but what was she supposed to do about Alexis? Should she stay and chat to her like nothing had happened? Should she interrupt Castle's call and get him to talk to Alexis…again? She honestly couldn't remember the last time just she and the girl had had a conversation. There was the time after her place was blown up and one other time when Alexis did some work experience at the precinct, but other than that Castle was always there as some kind of buffer.

Beckett knew she had to make a decision one way or another because hovering here in the kitchen was beginning to feel ridiculous.  
"So, how's Columbia?" College, surely that was a safe avenue of inquiry for her to take.

"Busy," Alexis replied, continuing to engross herself in her textbook.

"What's you're exam on?" Beckett tried again.

"History," answered the younger women in one word… again. Beckett was really too tired for this. Glancing at the clock on the microwave she read 10:05pm.

"Well, I'm beat and my bed's calling so I'll catch you later Alexis," she said as she headed towards the bedroom.

She was almost through the door when Alexis called, "Beckett?" Kate stopped and turned back.

"Yeah?"

"Have you moved in? … Here, I mean?" Alexis clarified.

"Um, no," she answered a little too quickly and not very convincingly.

"It's just you seem to know my Dad's schedule better than I do and you just referred to his bed as yours, so I was just wondering…"

Alexis' voice drifted off at the end of the sentence and for the first time tonight Beckett really looked at the younger women. She appeared tired and much younger than eighteen. Dark circles hung under her blue eyes and although Beckett knew that she was still fighting the remnants of Mono, there seemed to be a deeper weariness about the girl. And now, whether it was her detective inclinations or because she genuinely cared about Castle's daughter, Beckett couldn't just wonder off to bed and leave this question unanswered.

"Honestly, Alexis, I'm not sure I even know the answer to that question," Beckett stated, wondering back as far as the kitchen counter before continuing. "I'm here a lot and when I'm not here Castle's usually with me at my place. We both have stuff at each other's houses, but I still have my apartment. Would you… prefer I wasn't here as much? " It was a question that Beckett wasn't sure she really wanted the answer to, but it had to be asked.

"No. It's not… I mean… even if I didn't want you… but,…that's not what I'm saying, its just, well, I guess it's not even my place to say anymore. It's not like I really… live here... anymore." Leaning back and crossing her arms protectively over her stomach Alexis continued, "It's just, I've lived here practically my whole life and now I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to knock before I come in the front door."

And then Beckett understood that the girl's coolness was about SO much more than tiredness.

"So walking in on…um, situations like you did earlier doesn't exactly help you feel like this is still home?" the detective hedged, pushing down her own embarrassment to try and hold eye contact with the girl.

Alexis gave the slightest of nods and then let her gaze fall to her lap.

Beckett walked over to the table and smoothly sat in the chair opposite her.

"Alexis, believe me when I say I am sorry about what you walked in on. Obviously if we'd known you were coming, we would have…" Beckett drifted off trying to rack her brain for the right words. "What I mean is, this is all new to me. I've never dated someone who has a daughter before. Your dad and I, we were partners for so long before… um... being more… This whole relationship has sort of… evolved differently to any other I've been in. Am I making any sense at all?" the elder women begged of the younger.

Again Alexis gave a slight nod before Beckett continued.

"What I'm trying to say is even though I'm not sure what my current living arrangements are, what I do know is that this is your home Alexis. And except for tonight, for obvious reasons, every time I've been here and you've walked through that door your dad… his face just lights up."

Alexis looked up and a single tear slipped down her cheek.

"I'm sorry Beckett, I feel stupid. I'm just really, really tired," she said, blinking slowly as if even the smallest of actions took too much effort.

"I get it," Beckett replied. "It may have been a while ago for me but I still remember that first year of college being a killer."

Alexis let out a large sigh in agreement. "It's just, I think I didn't realise how easy I had it in high school. I had to work, but I always got top grades. But at Columbia…"

"…everyone is used to getting top grades in high school?" Beckett interrupted.

"Yeah. So I have to work so much harder than I ever had to before. Then I got Mono and I feel like I'm never going to catch up. And like I said I'm so tired that the only thing I could think of was to come home, sleep in my own bed and talk to my dad. Because growing up, he always had the answers and, yeah, sometimes they were the stupidest answer, like all night reality TV marathons or Smorlettes, but no matter what he said or did he always made me feel better."

Beckett smiled, as she listened to Alexis unload all her thoughts and feelings in what seemed like one giant breath. Much the same way the girl's father rattled on when he was in the depths of excitement about one of his CIA / Mob hit theories.

"You sound like your Dad."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when you get really into what your talking about, no matter what it is, even if it's sad or confusing, you're both so… expressive. "

Alexis huffed a small laugh. "Yeah, there's probably a little of Gram in that particular characteristic."

"Oh, yeah!" Beckett agreed, seeing how the dramatic gene flowed through Castle's family. Then a thought came to her. "Maybe, that's you answer, though."

"What?"

"You have to move away from home for college; it's growing up, it's moving on. You can call your dad or come home and visit and sometimes that will be enough and sometimes it wont, but the thing that doesn't change is what he's taught you, the memories that are in you." It was a conversation that was heading in a far deeper direction than she'd planned, but this was his daughter and she deserved these answers. "When… um, when I went away to college I was so ready to leave home. My dad was just so worried about everything I did, whether it was my motorbike or boys. So I got into Stanford and I thought, right, he'll get that I'm a hard worker and I can be responsible. But even over the summer before I left he was still on at me about curfew and… boys. So when it came time for me to go I was out of there and on my way to California with barely a glance over my shoulder. From Stanford I called home and they called me but the distance never really felt that great." She stopped and her chest rose and fell with one large breath. "And then I came home for Christmas and fifteen days later my mom was gone. And I was in shock and I was so, so angry. I was drowning in loss and then my dad… he took me the beach." She looked over to where Castle was now pacing in his office, remembering when she had shared this story with him. She turned back to Alexis where the girls eyes rested somewhere between apprehension, pity and shock that Beckett was actually talking to her about her mom. The older woman nodded, smiled and continued. "We were at my mom's funeral reception and we left so that he could take me to Coney Island. At the time it seemed crazy but it was just what we needed. The thing is, both my dad and I knew it was just the kind of thing my mom would have done too. So while things then got better and then worse and then better again, what I carried with me through all those years and still hold so close now, is that no matter where I am or what I'm doing the things my parents taught me and the memories that are in me, they can still make the worst days better."

"FINALLY!" Castle's booming voice snapped through the loft causing both Beckett and Alexis to jump in their seats. "How is it possible for one women to use the term 'authorial responsibility' twenty-five times in a forty minute phone call? What does that even mean, 'authorial responsibility'? I don't think I've ever used that term… and I am a writer. And I'm not exaggerating the amount of times she said it. After the first two I started keeping a tally and…" Castle stopped mid-sentence as he finally realised that Beckett and Alexis were sitting at the dining room table staring back at him with glassy eyes and jaws slack with surprise. Horror dawned across Castle's face as he realised he had just walked in on a scene that was almost as frightening as his girlfriend and ex-wife having dinner together.

"Uh...uh...what...um...table sitting...you both...why?

**A/N Hello everyone. Thanks again for the wonderful follows, favourites and reviews. This chapter was obviously a little more serious. I love the humour of these characters but I wouldn't be doing them justice if I didn't touch on the serious side too. Also, as excited as I am for the 2 parter beginning this Monday, I'm not planning on dealing with Alexis' abduction at this point. Usual disclaimer applies. Finally, my charger to my laptop died so until the new one arrives I have to rely on my iPad for writing. As typing is much more slow going on the iPad it could be a little while longer before the next update. I hope not but just thought I'd give a little heads up. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Previously:**

**Castle stopped mid sentence as he finally realised that Beckett and Alexis were sitting at the dining room table staring back at him with glassy eyes and jaws slack with surprise. Horror dawned across Castle face as he realised he had just walked in on a scene that was almost as frightening as Beckett and his ex coming back from dinner.**

* * *

Unbeknown to either, Castle and Beckett must have been thinking about the same encounter with Meredith. Kate turned, caught Alexis' eye and cocked an eyebrow, seeking approval for the plan that had snapped into her head right about the time Castle had stopped speaking. The younger women gazed back at Beckett and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Um…Castle, Alexis and I have had a bit of time to talk.

"Oh?" Castle attempted to casually lean against one of the loft pillars but misjudged how far away the object actually was and bumped his shoulder harder than he had expected. Beckett frowned and was almost tempted not to go ahead but the author recovered smoothly so she continued.

"So, yeah, we were just talking and the um, the events of tonight have made me realise that maybe this has all been moving a bit fast and we should take a bit of a break for a while."

"Oh," Castle said as he looked from Beckett to his daughter. Alexis gazed back with wide solemn blue eyes before Beckett went on.

"Yeah. Alexis has made me realise that I'm just not ready for all that comes with being in a relationship with someone who's a fath…" Beckett cracked "Oh I _can't_ _even_ _do_ _this._ It's _too_ cruel." She laughed and jumped out of her seat to hug the almost crying man leaning on the pillar. "We were just talking about college. It's fine, everything's fine." She said as she stroked his cheek.

Alexis giggled as she walked over to the freezer. "Wow Dad, you've gotten really gullible lately."

Castle's brow furrowed as he looked around his girlfriend to his daughter. "Whah…That was really _mean_! You both planned that? Whah...When did I become the one being ganged up on?"

"Ha!" Beckett and Alexis huffed simultaneously. "When weren't you?" they continued in unison, before eyeing each other over the strange coincidence.

"Jinx!" the women fired, then laughed.

"JINX?... JINX?" Castle exclaimed. "WHAT is going _ON _here? When I left the room you were in there, you were in there, because _she _walked in here and caught us on there!" Castle's arms flew around his body like a dizzy traffic cop as he pointed from the women, to the doors and finally the ill fated couch. "I'm _so _confused right now! And… and then you're saying we're gonna take a break and then you're laughing and she's laughing and… and…" He closed his mouth in a little boy pout and breathed heavily through his nose.

"I see what you mean about the expressive, unloading thing." Alexis spoke to Beckett but beamed at her dad. "Dad, everything's fine. Beckett was I were just talking about college and home and she was reminding me that you and I are still quite a lot alike."

"We are? You were?" Castle looked still a little cautiously between the two women.

"Yeah," Beckett concurred, "you are _and _we were."

"'Kay," Castle conceded as he led his girlfriend over to the kitchen, "but that 'break' thing was still really mean."

"Sorry," Beckett said half joking, half serious as she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Alexis busied herself getting bowls out for the assortment of sundae ingredients she had already laid out on the bench during Castle's hysterical questioning. Beckett watched the girl collecting items from around the kitchen, knowing this small familiar action would go a long way in reminding Alexis how at home she _was_ in the loft.

"So, Dad," the young women broached, as she scooped ice cream into three bowls "is it ok if I stay here tonight, my laundry's still gonna be a while and…"

"Ok, Alexis," Castle interrupted, "why would you even be asking that? You know that this is your home and your room is there anytime you want." His face grew serious as he held his daughter's eyes. "That _is_ going to be the last time you ever ask that question, right?

"Thanks Dad." She paused, smiling at her father and then, turning to Beckett, the girl received an 'I told you so' look.

"Just one other thing," Alexis continued. "Is Elisa still coming tomorrow, because I'm not going anywhere near that couch until I know that its been _thoroughly _cleaned?"

Beckett threw her head back and laughed as Castle cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at the young women. "So not funny, but _yes, _she's coming."

Alexis pushed a bowl full of ice-cream in front of her dad and Beckett and all three went to action applying various ingredients to their sundaes. Beckett chose strawberry topping and sprinkles while Alexis went for chocolate topping, whipped cream and cherries. Both women then started eating while Castle was still busy adding liberal amounts of _every_ item available on the bench.

"How can you even taste the different flavours when you put chocolate, strawberry, vanilla _and _maple syrup on there?" Beckett questioned, before placing a petite amount of ice-cream on an upside-down spoon in her mouth.

"You tiddin me? You doan know whah yaw mithin," said Castle through a muffled mouth full of ice-cream and God only knew what else was in there.

"So gross," said Beckett, shaking her head at him while her eyes smiled.

"Wanna tiss?" said Castle around another mouthful as he leaned towards her.

"And on that note, I think I'll take this to my room." Alexis grabbed her bowl and started moving toward the stairs.

"Hey Alexis, I was only kidding, come back." Castle hopped off his stool at the bench and went to retrieve his daughter.

"I know Dad. I'm actually really tired so I was just gonna finish this and crash anyway. Plus, I know Beckett was on her way to bed before I unloaded all my late teen angst on her, right?" She turned to address the older women at the bench.

"It's fine Alexis. I'm glad we talked but yeah, I am beat and you should sleep. Don't forget your text book." Beckett pointed over to the dining room table before stepping from her seat to go and rinse her bowl.

"Okay, Pumpkin but only if you let me make you happy face pancakes for breakfast?"

"Sure Dad," she said, reaching up to kiss him goodnight. "Night Beckett," she waved as she started up the stairs.

"Night Alexis," Beckett called back from the sink.

Castle stood at the bench eating his monster size sundae as Beckett moved around the kitchen, putting away the ingredients as assuredly as Alexis had got them out. After a quick wipe down of the counters she headed towards the bedroom. "You comin' Castle?" she turned to walk backwards as she asked.

Castle didn't answer but picked up his sundae and followed her.

"You better not get nuts in my bed," Beckett threatened as she walked into the bathroom.

"There's a line there somewh…."

"Castle!"

He took the warning. "Meh, it was too easy anyway," he called through the wall as he placed the sundae on his bedside table and started to undress. "So you two really only talked about college?"

"Mostly," Beckett said as she stepped through the open bathroom door squeezing toothpaste onto her brush. "And _yes, _Castle before you check again, the whole 'take a break' thing _was _entirely a joke and Alexis and I didn't talk about that at _all_. Although the more I think about it, you didn't talk to her about the couch thing, did you?" She placed one hand on her hip accusingly while starting to brush her teeth with the other.

"I _tried_!" Castle only had one leg out of his pants but he held both hands up in defence. "She yelled at me and then ran away to the laundry room."

Beckett gave him a look, possibly 'the' look and then walked back into the bathroom to spit her toothpaste.

"She _did_!" he declared and then, picking up his pants and her jeans from earlier, turned to put them away in the wardrobe before he continued. "And then Gina called and… and you had already left the room to come in here and _hide._" He teased the last word knowing that he was goading her.

"I _was _not _hiding_!" she yelled, partly in defence, partly over the sound of the toilet flushing. Then went quiet.

She came to the doorway drying her hands and wearing a slightly contrite expression. She looked across the room to where Castle stood in the walk-in robe and was met with his raised eyebrows waiting for her to fess up.

"Ok, maybe I was hiding…a bit." Plonking herself down on the bed Beckett pulled out her bedside draw to grab some moisturiser. Castle watched her begin to smooth the cream on to her arms before he realised that her jeans (that he'd picked up to put away) were still pinned under his arm. He crossed to her side of the wardrobe to hang her jeans and then paused, contemplating the items of clothing that surrounded him.

"And besides," Beckett called out from the bed as she slid between the navy blue sheets, "even if I was hiding you're only jealous because you didn't think to escape the room first."

Shuffling down beneath the covers she pulled at her nightshirt to untwist it from her waist before lying on her side facing the wardrobe.

"Kate?" Castle came back to the doorway of the walk-in wearing just his black boxers.

"Yes, Castle?" Beckett smirked at him waiting for his comeback, but the smile fell away when she noticed an intensity to his expression.

He held her eyes, trying to convey what he wanted to say even before the words hit his lips. "Why not make it half?"

**A/N**

**Yaaay! Finally my charger arrived so I could continue the story. Me and my first world problems. ;) Thanks again for the follows and the reviews, the feedback is SO helpful. Special thanks to David and Elle for their editing and encouragement. The usual disclaimer applies, they're not mine, but can I just say... HOW FREAKING AMAZING WAS TARGET?! The acting was phenomenal and the colour timing in that final scene...GAH..so beautiful!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Previously:**

**"Kate?" Castle came back to the doorway of the walk-in wearing just his black boxers.**

**"Yes, Castle?" Beckett smirked at him waiting for his comeback, but the smile fell away when she noticed an intensity to his expression.**

**He held her eyes, trying to convey what he wanted to say even before the words hit his lips. "Why not make it half?"**

* * *

"Half of what, Castle?" Beckett said as she sat up to meet his gaze.

"You said earlier tonight, 'not quite half'. You meant your stuff in the wardrobe, didn't you?" He gestured back behind him at the small room. "I didn't put it together until I was in there now. I was putting away your jeans, hanging them up with the rest of your pants and I looked around..."

"Castle, I..." Beckett attempted to interrupt but Castle spoke over her.

"I know you're gonna say that's not what you meant, or that it's not half, or that this isn't the time to talk about it, but Beckett, if this isn't the right time can you tell me what is because I... we really need to talk about this."

Castle sat down on the edge of the bed looking at his girlfriend with pleading but cautious eyes. He knew this was a big deal for her. For a long time now he'd wanted to have this conversation but he also knew that, no matter how he raised the subject, the chance of her withdrawing was so high that it left him terrified.

Beckett wasn't sure whether if it was the frightened look in Castle's eyes, or the way he raised the idea completely out of the blue, but for one reason or another her desire to comfort him was overriding her need for flight. "Ok... um, maybe if you could say exactly what you mean it could help... just so I know that in amongst all this subtext, we are actually talking about the same thing?"

Castle took a big chest-filling breath, like he was a little boy, steeling himself to tell his mom that he'd got another Saturday detention. "I'm talking about us, you and me, living together... officially, I mean."

"Right." Beckett ran her hands up over her fore head and squeezed the hair at the top of her head. Castle knew this gesture well. It was what she did whenever they came to a dead end in a case and she didn't know where to start from again.

"When you asked earlier if Alexis and I had _only _talked about college - like I said - that was _mostly _what we talked about but... she asked me if I had moved in and... I didn't really know what to say."

"What did you say?"

Beckett chuckled, "You know, I'm not really sure exactly _what_ I said now." She paused and smiled. "Remember when we worked the Haley Blue case? I asked you what you were going to tell Alexis about what had happened and you said, 'What I always tell her, the truth.' So I guess I tried to be honest with her, because I knew it's what you would do."

"So you said...?" Castle tilted his head forward, still looking for an actual answer.

"I said that we were together most nights, when I'm not here that you're at my place, that we both have stuff at each others houses but that I still had my apartment." Beckett rattled off her previous conversation with Alexis like she was reading a shopping list.

"But the thing is Kate, all of that..." Castle waved his hand up and down like he was pointing to Beckett's imaginary list, "...it's not really an answer, is it?"

"No... it's not."

For a few moments the couple sat in silence, each picking their own inanimate object to focus on. Eventually Castle broke the stalemate. "You know what Beckett, let's just shelve this for now. It's nearly one o'clock and I know you're tired. I shouldn't have brought it up now, lets just go to sleep."

There was so much that Beckett wanted to say, to do. She wanted to give him the answers he needed but all that she could muster was a small nod before she slid beneath covers and rolled to face away from him. Castle crept in next to her. Each of them kept to their own side, both desperate to reach out and touch the other but knowing that one of them was going to have to come up with the answers that neither had.

Maybe moments, maybe hours later, Castle's breathing changed to that long slow intake and exhale that betrayed he had fallen into sleep. Beckett however, maintained a staring competition with the giant framed elephant on the wall. Her mind raced through the events of the evening. Stopping to rewind and replay moments over and over again, desperately trying to find a spot in the time line that she could edit out, so that they wouldn't have got to the part of the night where it all fell to crap. She broke in her battle with the elephant and looked at the clock. 2:47am. She sat up slowly in bed and reached out for the glass she kept on her table. Downing the inch of water didn't come close to quenching her sudden thirst and she recognised the opportunity to break her cyclical thoughts by refilling the glass.

Creeping out of bed she padded across the polished floors of the bedroom and opening the door noiselessly, moved across the loft to the kitchen. After refilling her glass Beckett stood at the counter for a moment before heading back to bed. However, part way back - drawn by the stirring of a memory - she headed for the office instead.

Standing in the middle of the room she slowly spun around while allowing her toes to shuffle into the shag rug. She _loved _this room. The way Castle's desk dominated the space from the centre out, the painted spiral staircase on the wall that felt like it was sucking you in beyond the frame and then there were the books - beautiful, spine-cracked books.

"Hey," a soft voice came from behind her.

"Hey," she replied, smiling gently over her shoulder, before she put her glass down to run her finger along the desk.

"You're still awake."

"Duh," she laughed and part danced, part walked, as she twirled her way toward the balcony door.

Castle chuckled. "You're either really happy or slightly drunk, both of which beg the question, why?"

"Not drunk," Beckett smiled, shaking her head at him. "Remembering."

"Remembering?" he quizzed, leaning against the edge of the desk.

"The first time I came here. Do you remember?"

"Yeah, you caught Alexis and I kitted out for lazer tag and my mother mid facial. Your face was hilarious when I opened the door, like you didn't know what world you had stepped into."

"Ha! Yeah," she laughed out. "But do you remember _why_ I came?"

"You wanted to talk about a case. The frozen lady... um... Melanie Cavanagh. You said..." Realisation washed over Castle's face. "You said you couldn't find the _answer"_

_"_I had the theory, but I couldn't find the facts. I couldn't find the _answers _and so I came here, to your 'Bat Cave'." Beckett held up quotation fingers copying Castle's gesture from what was now, the night before. "That was the first case we really worked on _together_. We walked around in here and we built the theory. You said, I had the ending..."

"... But that you just had to put it all together with the facts at hand to make sense of the story," he finished for her.

"So, Castle, we need answers, what are the facts at hand?"

"Ok," he said, beginning to pace his office. "Well... between crime scenes, the precinct and.. um... our extra curricular activities?"

"You mean sex," Beckett simplified, with a look that said 'get to the point.'

"Yes, the super, amazing, awesome sex... Anyway, between those three things we spend _most _of our living hours together anyway so what we would really be talking about is the few hours a day in which we sleep."

"But then there's our stuff Castle?"

"Yeah, but can I just say on the whole 'not quite half thing,' you _so _have more than half the wardrobe and drawer _and _bathroom space in there." He pointed accusingly through the doorway to the bedroom.

"_But..._ you also have _way more_ than your one Valentines Day drawer at my place, Castle," she countered, stepping toward him.

"True, _but, _Detective Beckett, that fact is actually _more _evidence for how much time we already live together. It's just time spent in a different location." He closed the gap between them with another step and waited for her challenge.

"What about Alexis?"

"She spends ninety percent of her life at Columbia and for the rest she has her own room and space that's already preexisting and besides, _you _said she already thinks you live here." He took another step towards Beckett, examining her conceding expression.

"What about Martha?" She stepped in.

"Not her house." He stepped.

"Castle, it's her _home, _you _have _to consider that." She closed the gap further.

"You're right, I'll talk to her, but I'm pretty sure she likes you more than me, so I seriously doubt her opinion about us living together is a hinderance."

Their toes reached each other on the shag rug.

"I like my apartment, it's such a great design. Almost makes me glad the other one blew up." Beckett grimaced at her poor joke, then smiled coyly.

"So we live there," Castle slid a hand round her waist.

"But then you wouldn't be here when Alexis comes home. When would you see her?" she asked, gently tapping pointer and middle fingers against his chest.

Castle frowned, "We could meet up at the precinct?"

"Yeah, Gates would _love _that." She looked up at him scrunching her nose. "Or... I could sub-let _but _what about my stuff... the rest of it? Where would my office be?"

"Where do you want it to be?" Castle offered.

Beckett allowed her eyes to wander around the room she loved, envisaging where she could fit.

"Hey," Castle interrupted her imaginings. " I could always get you a chair and put it right here next to my desk ." He tapped the wood teasing her.

"Funny." Beckett rolled her eyes.

"Kate," Castle's eyes smiled down at her as the hand on her waist pulled her closer into him, "here is the simple fact, the crucial element to our story... I will go anywhere at anytime, do anything, including dropping this whole subject if it means I'm with you."

Beckett's eye's began to swim. She swallowed and took a breath. "I wanna be the one to talk to Martha _and_ we have to talk to Alexis again, make sure it's really okay with her."

Castle's eyes boggled and he sucked his lips in before whispering "_Is that a yes?"_

Beckett clenched her teeth trying not to laugh. "_And _I want my painting up somewhere. I love that painting."

"I'm taking that as a yes." Castle barely managed to get the words out before his mouth descended on hers. They chased each others lips, switching their heads from left to right, both desperately trying to use this action to seal their commitment.

Castle began tugging Beckett towards the bedroom by the front of her nightshirt, freeing buttons with each step backwards.

"What about my bed?" she muffled through their kisses, "My bed's awesome."

"We'll swap em," he mumbled back, as the back of his knees hit the mattress.

"But we can keep your mattress, it's better than mine" she said as she nipped and kissed down his neck.

"Much better," Castle said, sliding one hand over her breast while the other slid the shirt down her back and dropped it to the floor. He then bounced them both down on to the mattress to prove the point.

Beckett giggled as she shuffled up the the bed and then abruptly narrowed her eyes and glanced to her right. "But that elephant has to go!"

"What?" exclaimed Castle, following and hovering above her. "I thought you loved elephants - you have them everywhere."

"I do," she replied, "just not that one," bobbing her head in its direction. "It's creepy and it stares at me."

Beckett reached up above her to scrape her nails across Castle's chest.

"Fine, the creepy, staring elephant can go somewhere else," he said, bracing himself on both hands above her while his knee gently nudged her legs apart. Creating a space for himself he held her gaze before continuing. "I love you crazy elephant lady."

"I love you too slightly hysterical man with really bad timing for starting conversations with major life altering implications," she laughed and, reaching up, cupped his jaw to draw his mouth back to hers.

Beckett groaned into Castle's lips as the kiss deepened and her hands moved to skate feverishly over his back. He lent down on his forearms, pushing her into the mattress, then stopped and drew breathlessly back from her swollen mouth. "Just... so... we're clear ...on the whole bad timing thing," he puffed out, "now's probably _not_ the right time to ask you to marry me?"

"_CASTLE!"_

* * *

**A/N**

**Sorry this chapter was a little longer in coming. Unfortunately sometimes the real world can be quite insistant that I pay attention to it. ;) I struggled a lot with characterisation in this chapter so I hope it comes through ok.**

**Usual disclaimer fits here. Once again I'm just grateful for the opportunity afforded here in the FF world to play with these awesome characters imagined to life by the incomparable AWM and his merry bunch of men AND WOMEN.**

**So who else is super, crazy excited for Hunt?**

**Cheers all. **


	6. Chapter 6

Morning arrived far sooner than either Beckett or Castle would have liked. However, it was not the light peeking through the blinds that woke the spooning couple but the excited shrill of his mother as she walked through the front door and straight into her son's bedroom.

"Richard, I'm home! I know it's early but I simply _have _tell you about last night's performance. Hello Kate darling, how did you sleep? It was simply divine. Jacob Finch, the young man I was telling you about last week, you know, the one who just joined the company in June... what?" The older women stopped as she finally registered the horror on her son's face.

"Mom, it's 8:45 on a Saturday morning. You're in our room and we're not exactly dressed for entertaining... and what are you even doing home? I thought you were up state - have you slept at all?" Castle croaked out as he checked for the third time that the bed covers were at least chest height on both himself and the sleepy women laying next to him.

"Oh I'll sleep when I'm dead Richard and when did you become such a prude? Besides there's nothing under that sheet that I haven't... in fact there's nothing under that sheet quite a few people haven't _seen_... ever since you stole that horse and ended up on page six."

_"Mother! _I'm sure _most _people have forgotten about that." The writer looked to the woman next to him for reassurance but received nothing more than a small lift of the covers which he assumed was Beckett shrugging from the safety of her hiding spot. "_And, _in case you hadn't noticed Mother, I'm not exactly under this sheet _alone..."_

_"_Hey, don't drag me into this," Beckett spoke up, for the first time since their abrupt awakening. "I'm just not properly awake yet." She pulled herself up making sure to keep the covers pinned to her chest. Smiling slyly at Castle before addressing his mom, "we were up kinda late last night, Martha. Alexis came home and we stayed up late... talking."

"Oh really? Alexis is home? Oh well, get dressed you two and come out here," she said, heading back toward the kitchen. "I'll make you all some breakfast and tell you _all_ about the performance."

Both Beckett and Castle turned to each other with apprehensive looks at the thought of Martha making breakfast. Martha was an amazing chef when she wanted to be, but breakfast was not her speciality to begin with and when she was already distracted by the excitement of her night, a Martha-made breakfast did _not _sound good.

"Ah wait... Mother I'll do breakfast," Castle called after her. "I already promised Alexis I'd make happy face pancakes. You ladies could just chill on the couch till they're done?" Castle raised his eyebrows at Beckett for for her approval of his plan.

"Um, yeah Martha, just let me hop through the shower and I'll join you," Beckett yelled to the older women before turning and whispering to Castle, "I can't go out there like this, I smell of you."

Castle chuckled and threaded his arms around Beckett's waist. "I love it when you smell of me."

"Yeah well, it's not so much smelling of you that I mind," admitted Beckett, as she snuggled into his neck before leaning back and cocking an eye brow, "but more the smell of both of us _combined_ that I don't particularly want to assault your mom and daughter with."

"Hmmm... yeah, that's probably wise. I think we've reached the weekly quota for scarring Alexis."

"Alright," Martha yelled back, "but get a move on because I'm famished."

When he heard the clack of his mother's heels moving further into the lounge, Castle ducked out of bed to pull on some pyjama pants and close the bedroom door.

"All clear," he said, so that Beckett could safely make her way to the shower. "I'll see you out there."

Beckett gave the man a coy smile before disappearing into the bathroom.

Castle entered the kitchen just in time to see his mother disappearing upstairs.

"You better not be going up to bed Mother, now that you've woken us," he called after her.

"No Richard, but I did think if Kate was getting through the shower I might have enough time to at least get out of last night's wardrobe." She stopped and turned back to call his attention to the clothes she was wearing. "I just can't seem to pull off all-nighters without looking dishevelled these days."

"Far be it from me to encourage your wayward ways, Mother but if I look as good as you do after an all-nighter when I'm your age I'll be more than happy."

"Some days I know I raised you right, Kiddo." Martha beamed down at her son, shedding a little of the wearying effects of her active social life that were drawn across her face before turning to continue her journey upstairs.

"Yeah well, if you could maybe remember what a good son I am _before_ you wake me up again this early on a Saturday morning, that would be greatly appreciated, Mother."

Castle busied himself collecting the ingredients he needed for pancakes while the women of the house showered, changed and slept. Or so he thought. Alexis made him throw a spatular clear across the room when she suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

"Geez, Dad!" the girl exclaimed, "good think you weren't slicing bacon."

"Sorry, Sweetheart," Castle grimaced at his daughter, then went to retrieve the utensil which had slid all the way over to the front door of the loft. "I thought you were still sleeping."

"Nah, the sound of Gram's shoes woke me coming up the stairs. Were they always that loud? I must have tuned them out when I was here all the time. It's funny, now I'm at college I can sleep through the sound of a party two doors down but I get woken by my grandmother walking. How weird is that?!"

Castle chuckled. "That is weird, but in your defence, I'm guessing that most freshman in college don't have a partying Gram that pulls all-nighters and wears stilettos."

"True," Alexis laughed. "So now that you've stopped throwing cooking implements can I help with breakfast? I actually miss cooking now that I'm eating in the cafeteria all the time."

"Sure. So do you just wanna go with pancakes or shall we go all out with the big breakfast?"

"Big breakfast," both father and daughter said in unison and then smiled, relishing the shared connection.

"Hey you two," Beckett said, as she came out from the bedroom sounding far more fresh and awake than when Castle had left. "You need some help?"

Alexis looked up from the fridge where she was digging for bacon and eggs. "Hey Beckett."

"Hey, you smell amazing." Castle stepped over to slide his arms around Beckett's waist. Locking his eyes with hers she caught the double meaning in his compliment.

"Really, I do, do I?" she mumbled, wrapping her arms around him mimicking his gesture before continuing more audibly, "so, do you guys need some help?"

"You know, I think we're gonna do a father daughter breakfast cook-up thing. You don't mind do you?" Castle asked.

"No, not at all. I love the idea of watching you do all the work while I sit and watch... for a change."

"Hey! I help you work... well still not so much with the paperwork but I do stuff." Castle's voice reached that higher pitch it usually did whenever he was trying to defend himself.

Beckett laughed. "Yes, Castle you are much better at helping with the _stuff..." _she said, before her smile dropped along with her voice. "Did that come out sounding dirtier than I meant?"

"YES and eeew, Beckett!" Alexis answered from the other side of the kitchen. "Now Dad, come help me before you guys get gross...er."

"Coming Pumpkin," Castle laughed, before turning back to his girlfriend. "Go, relax while we cook." He pushed her gently towards the couch. "Mother will be back down in a minute. She just went to change out of her _party clothes._"The last few words were said with his exotic fashion designer accent. "You did say we didn't need to be in at the Precinct until this afternoon, right?"

"Yeah, the boys said they were gonna go in early and go through the phone records that were due in this morning but we don't have to be in until two-,ish," she replied, plonking herself onto the couch.

"There's my girl!" Martha announced her arrival as she descended the stairs and headed straight for Alexis. "Oh I missed you," she said wrapping the girl in a bear hug.

Alexis hugged her grandmother back with her forearms but kept her hands splayed out to the sides. "I missed you too Gram but I have slimy bacon hands."

"Oh, yes. I thought your father was suppose to be making you pancakes, not you making us bacon."

"It's fine Gram, I wanted to help. So you can go chill out with Beckett on the... couch." Alexis ended the sentence by narrowing her eyes at Castle. Martha looked to her son for an explanation but Castle just chuckled and kept beating the pancake batter.

"Right, well yes of course, but you two hurry up because I am just dying to tell you all about last night's performance and I'm not going to shout over the racket you make when you cook together."

"Yes Mother," Castle replied, giving a knowing look to his daughter.

"Kate darling, how are you?" Martha said, as she flopped down next to Beckett while somehow managing to hug the younger woman in the same action.

"I'm good thanks Martha, except for the slow case at work and the late night."

"Yes, and that reminds me," said Martha, leaning in a little closer to Beckett, "I was just wondering, when exactly did Richard start referring to _his _bedroom as _our _bedroom?"

* * *

**A/N Hi all. Sorry for the delay in uploading this. I kind of lost my mojo and it took a little longer to get writing again. Anyway, here it be, such as it is. I also just wanted to say that even though I have NO intention of going down the smut line with this story, I do want to write conversations that I feel are pretty normal between adult lovers. This is also why I rated the story M. It may be a little excessive but better safe than sorry, right? **

**Normal disclaimer fits here. The only thing I own of Castle is my love for this beautifully created, written, acted and produced show. Thanks again for the follows and reviews. Please feel free to send me suggestions for direction of the story or even tell me "It's wretched. Stop writing now!" I'm not saying I will but you should definitely feel free to suggest it. ;)**

**Cheers, Lita**


	7. Chapter 7

**Previously**

"Kate darling, how are you?" Martha said, as she flopped down next to Beckett while somehow managing to hug the younger woman in the same action.

"I'm good thanks Martha, except for the slow case at work and the late night."

"Yes, and that reminds me," said Martha, leaning in a little closer to Beckett, "I was just wondering, when exactly did Richard start referring to _his _bedroom as _our _bedroom?"

* * *

"Um... _our_?" Beckett attempted to clarify Martha's meaning even though both women new full well what the older meant.

"Don't play dumb with me, Kiddo. Of course I know how serious Richard is about you. For goodness' sake I think I've known about his feeling for you longer than he has. But I also know that his history makes him careful about putting his heart on the line. What I'm wondering is if you, my dear, know exactly how big a deal it is that _he _used the word '_our'_ about the two of you?" Martha moved her hand along an imaginary line connecting the woman on the couch and her son in the kitchen.

Beckett thought for only a moment before she decided that this was as good a time as any to jump in to this discussion. "He asked me to move in last night."

"And you said...?" Martha leaned in and Kate couldn't quite read the redhead's expression.

"I said we needed to talk to you and Alexis first."

"So you used me as your stalling tactic?" Martha narrowed her eyes at Beckett, confusing the usually perceptive detective with her questioning look.

"No!... I... just... It's a big deal, you know. I don't wanna get this wrong."

"Get what wrong, Kate? Moving in, not moving in, checking who exactly you're moving in with? Maybe it's my lack of sleep, but aside from maybe sorting out whose stuff goes where and whose gets put into storage, you _officially_ moving in here wouldn't make a drastic change to what you've already been doing for the last however-many months."

Beckett laughed, "Which is basically the conclusion we came to at 3am."

"There, then. It's official - you're moving in. Welcome to the family," Martha said, grabbing Beckett by the shoulders and pulling her into a fierce hug. However when she pulled back a single tear slipped from Kate's hazel eyes.

"Aww... sorry Martha," Beckett said swiping a hand over her cheek to remove the tear.

The elder woman watched as Kate drew her knees up to embrace them. Martha may not have spent much time alone with her son's girlfriend but she knew well enough that Beckett guarded her emotions well. She sat and waited to see if Beckett would explain the unusual loss of composure.

Kate took a deep breath and looked over to the kitchen. Checking to see that Castle was otherwise engaged in his breakfast creations she looked back to Martha and continued in a hushed tone, "It's just... like you said, Castle's put his heart out there and in some ways so have I but... never like this. The longest relationship I've had was just over a year and I didn't live with the guy. What if me moving in here ruins what we have? I mean someone once told me that _risking our heart is why we're alive. _And I have with Castle, but... I'm a cop... my whole career has been about calculated risk. What if this is that step too far?"

Beckett sat breathing in and out a little faster, like she had just raced in from somewhere.

Martha smiled at the young woman next her and reached out to touch her index finger to Beckett's leg. "But at some point Darling, we all have to stop calculating and just live our lives."

Beckett smiled and nodded slowly. Even though she had known Martha for over four years, the women had an interesting relationship. Often Martha allowed herself to appear flighty and dramatic. However, Kate had come to realise the Martha that she knew today, the one sitting next to her now, was a largely untapped source of worldly wisdom.

"Can I... um... ask you something, Martha?"

"Of course." Castle's mother gazed at Beckett as though she was studying a script, trying to find the plot twist before she came to the end.

"Did, you live with Castle when he was married to Meredith or Gina?"

"Oh good heavens no!" Martha threw her head back in a sigh of relief. "You've seen how I relate to Meredith and I'm not a lot better with Gina. Could you image what it would be like if I shared a home with either of those women... the thought gives me palpitations."

Beckett laughed at the actress' wide-eyed theatrical expression. "Sorry for putting that notion out there."

The two women enjoyed the moment of wimsy before Beckett continued. "It does kinda make me wonder though, would you be ok with having _me _here _all _the time?"

"Darling, it was never about women in general sharing my son's life... it was those two particular women. The more I got to know them the less impressed I was with them as partners for Richard. The truth is that I quite liked Meredith when I first met her, which is why I introduced her to my son." Beckett eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh you didn't know that I set them up? Yes, not one of my greatest set-ups," Martha continued. "Anyway she was vibrant and funny and... perhaps reminded me of myself... which, although it seems very arrogant, meant I assumed that if she was like me, she would at least understand him to some degree. Plus he'd just come out of another serious relationship and quite frankly he _needed _fun. The problem with Meredith is that she was _all _fun, a characteristic that became particularly evident when it came to being responsible for her child. And then Gina was the compete opposite to fun. She was driven and business-like which was great for Richard from an organisational point of view, but he stopped living with that _joiedevivre. _Except of course for the time he spent with Alexis." She nodded to the kitchen as though she was illustrating 'Exhibit A' in a courtroom battle. "No matter how stuck in a rut Richard would get with writing or his relationship with Gina, Alexis could always bring a passion for life back to him. Most times she was the only one who could... until he met you, that is. You, Kate Beckett are something entirely different to any other women I've seen Richard with."

"Is that a good thing?" Beckett laughed nervously.

"Look at him, Kate."

Both women looked over to where Castle and Alexis were busy at work with breakfast. Castle tore a large corner of pancake off andshoved it into his mouth. Suddenly he started dancing on the spot as he huffed out repeatedly, trying to release some of the heat in the food that had obviously been too hot. He then tuned back to the pan before he noticed that Beckett and Martha had just watched the whole Stooge-esque little scene.

"Ok, maybe _that_ behavior wasn't the best example," the redhead scoffed as she turned back to look at Kate, rolling her eyes.

Beckett fell back against the couch laughing heartily.

"You two better be saying nice things about me over there," Castle called from the kitchen. "And don't laugh at me."

"Who said we were even talking about you? Oy, such an ego!" Kate hollered back.

"Hey, I'm slaving over your breakfast here Detective Beckett."

"I suspect you're eating more of it than making it."

"What? I only had _one _little corner and that was only because I'm starving. It's almost 10am and I haven't eaten in _forever."_

"Seriously Castle? You poor thing... That ridiculously large and over-topped sundae you ate at midnight was_ so_ long ago."

"That _was _long ago! Besides I worked up _quite_ an appetite since then."

"Castle!"

"Richard!"

"_DAD!"_

The exclamations of Castle's various names flew out of Beckett, Martha and Alexis' mouths almost simultaneously.

"Again with the _TMI _Dad," Alexis clarified for all three women.

"_What? _I meant cooking," Castle gestured wildly around himself as if looking for the frying pan to jump up and defend him. However once Alexis had turned away and Martha was momentarily preoccupied with adjusting her position on the couch, he narrowed his eyes at Beckett and gave her a cheeky grin.

Gazing back at her boyfriend from the couch Beckett shook her head knowingly and snuffled a laugh.

"Now that's a better example of what I was trying to show you," Martha stated in a quiet but confident tone, drawing Beckett's eyes away from Castle and back to the older women.

"Hmm?"

"You laugh at him. You laugh _with _him. And I know you've cried together. You learned to be partners before you became lovers and _trust me,_ so many people, myself included, get those two things the wrong way around. Then they spend the rest of their time together trying to set things back in order and it's damn hard work. Too hard for most. But you and Richard... whether you meant to or not, started out right. I know it hasn't always been easy. I know in and amongst his better qualities he can still be childish and impatient as well as infuriating and invasive, but you bring balance to his life. You love him through the annoying personality traits and bring out his magnificent side. I can't tell you what it means to a mother to be able to see a women understand and love her son as much as you love Richard. You living here means I get to see that all the more. So don't worry about me minding or wanting you here, Kiddo."

Beckett sat completely still, tears burning her eyes until they were released, as she stared into her lap. She hadn't realised that at some point during her monologue, Martha had taken her hand. Squeezing it now the older women drew Kate's attention back up so that their eyes were locked. Leaning forward Beckett initiated a hug this time. Wrapping her arms around Martha she desperately searched for words but all she could manage were the ones she new mattered most.

"Thank you Martha," she whispered at the redhead's ear.

Martha leaned back but took hold of both Beckett's hands in her own. Then clearing the emotion from her voice, she spoke, "Quite frankly, Darling I'm just surprised it took a mystery novelist and a detective so ridiculously _long_ to work out that they belong together."

* * *

**Hello!**

**Finally got chapter 7 done. Yay me! ;) Thanks again for the reviews and alerts. I am genuinely grateful for (and a little surprised at) all the encouraging comments. I think there may be room for one more chapter to round my little story off nicely. Hopefully I will get that out without too much delay. Real life certainly has an annoying ability to get in the way of writing. **

**Disclaimer goes here.**

**Less than a week until this wretched 3 week hiatus is over and we get our Awesomely, amazing and splendiferous show back. WOOT, woot!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Previously**

Leaning forward Beckett initiated a hug for the first time. Wrapping her arms around Martha she desperately searched for words but all she could manage were the ones she new mattered most.

"Thank you Martha," she whispered at the redhead's ear.

Martha leaned back but took hold of both Beckett's hands in her own. Then clearing the emotion from her voice, she spoke, "Quite frankly, Darling I'm just surprised it took a mystery novelist and a detective so ridiculously _long_ to work out that they belong together.

* * *

"Okay," Castle called out from the kitchen, "I think we're ready to eat. Counter or table?"

Beckett uncurled herself from the couch and stood up. Turning back she offered a hand to Martha, helping the older woman up.

Since none of the women replied, Castle decided on eating at the table and started ferrying dishes of food from the kitchen. He eyed the women walking over from the couch. "You two look scarily chummy."

Beckett looked a little confused until she realised that her hand was still linked to Martha's.

"Oh tosh. You're far too paranoid Richard," Martha answered in response. "We were just talking about how long it took the two of you to _finally _fess up to your feelings. And I for one am _so glad_ that you've sorted out this whole living together thing. It was getting tedious for the rest of us having to watch you muddle through."

Beckett cast a shocked looked to Castle as they both waited for the question they knew was coming.

"Living together?" Alexis asked quietly, as she stopped midway between kitchen and table with a plate full of bacon.

"Oh... um ... Sweetie," Castle stumbled over words as he looked desperately between his mother and girlfriend, begging with his eyes for help.

"Oh _please_," Martha broke the painful silence. "Alexis is brighter than any of us, of course she saw this coming. In fact, I'm surprised that you haven't grilled these two about the living arrangements already, Darling," she directed to the young women.

"I thought I had," Alexis spoke, quietly maintaining her stance in limbo between the kitchen and dinning room, while locking eyes with Beckett.

"Alexis, it's not..." It was Kate's turn to search for the right words. "When we spoke last night, none of this had happened." Beckett gestured between Castle and herself attempting to explain.

"Oh yes," Martha interrupted, "you did say something about talking at 3am. Who makes a decision to live together at 3am... unless of course you've just... you know had..."

"_MOTHER!" _Castle yelped before Martha could continue. "Not 10 minutes ago you told me off for my 'appetite' inference and now you're talking about... that."

"Ahah!" Martha exclaimed, "so you admit you weren't talking about making breakfast." Castle allowed his head to loll back and slapped a hand over his eyes in frustration. This conversation with his daughter was _not_ happening the way he wanted it to. Beckett and Alexis still had not moved from their position where they eyed each other warily and Castle knew it was up to him to attempt to fix the mess. However before he had a chance Beckett spoke up for him.

Taking a tentative step towards Alexis, Kate spoke softly. "Do you think it would be possible for us all to sit down, eat some breakfast and start this whole thing over? This was supposed to be your special breakfast, Alexis. You know, we can just not talk about this at _all,_ right... if that's what you want?"

"Breakfast," was the only word Alexis could manage as she nodded and moved forward, finally allowing the plate of bacon to reach its destination on the table.

Castle sent a thankful look to Beckett as they all took their usual seats.

"I really don't know what all this fuss is about," Martha stated bluntly as she began serving herself eggs.

"Mother," Castle breathed out, frustrated that his mother could not see that he and Beckett were trying to ease his daughter into the whole 'living together' discussion.

However this time Alexis spoke up. "Dad, it's fine... I guess I was just a bit taken by surprise, that's all."

"Honestly, Honey, we never meant to just announce it like this. We wanted - Beckett insisted in fact - that we talk to you about it all first. Make sure you're okay with it." Castle paused before continuing. "Would... you be okay with it?"

Crossing his arms in front of him Castle looked from his daughter to his girlfriend, raising his eyes at the latter, seeking approval for his question.

Beckett didn't answer but looked to Alexis.

"It's not really my decision, is it... I mean I don't really live here anymore."

"But it's still your home, Sweetie, and we don't want you to be uncomfortable when you're here."

Alexis held her father's eyes and smirked, "Well as long as you two aren't shagging on the couch, I _am _comfortable here."

Martha chocked on a mouthful of egg.

"We weren't _shagging!"_

"Ha! You would have been if I hadn't walked in... Oh my gosh... What if I had come in 20 minutes later! Seriously Dad, even you wouldn't have been able to afford those therapy bills. How would you feel if you'd walked in on me and Max like that."

A fine spray of pancake escaped from Castle's mouth, peppering Martha's blouse across the table. "You and Max_? _No, no, NO!" Castle's hands flew over his ears. "I _CAN'T hear that!"_

Alexis was laughing at her father as he squirmed in his seat. "Yeah well I can't _see_ that," the girl pointed at the couch behind her.

"Oh Richard, Kate... were you _really_ making love on the couch? I was just sitting on that couch." Martha looked from her son to Beckett.

Beckett's head was in her hands but a healthy red glow was still visible on her neck and ears.

"Beckett," Castle pleaded, "help me! And no, Mother like I said we weren't 'making love' on the couch, _but_ even if we were... why can't I make love to _my _girlfriend on _my _couch in _my _home?"

This final outburst was all Beckett needed to break out of her embarrassed reverie. "Castle! Stop talking."

"What... I?"

"No! Just stop." Kate growled in frustration at her stuttering boyfriend. Then turning to the women at the table she continued. "_Nothing _happened on the couch and definitely nothing would have happened if we knew either of you were going to come or _be _home. In fact I made sure you weren't home, Martha. I know this is all so embarrassing and I want to live with you Castle, but if it's going to make other people uncomfortable, let's just leave things as they are." She dipped her head toward her boyfriend with slightly mournful eyes, seeking his support.

Castle heaved out a large breath, completely perplexed as to how to keep all these women and himself happy. He was just about to nod his agreement when Alexis spoke up.

"No, Beckett. It's fine for you to move in. You _should _move in. If that's what you want. And Gram's right, we've been watching you both muddle through your feelings for each other for _forever._

"Hear, hear," Martha piped up, gesturing her concurrence with her fork in the air.

Alexis continued, "Do I _want _to walk in on you two mid _flagrante delicto_? _NO! _No more than you would want to walk in on me, Dad," Alexis plowed on, in spite of her father's wincing across the table. "But I'm not saying that to make you cringe. The point is I'm an adult doing adult things now. I'm not some kid stamping her foot saying I don't want a new mommy. Obviously that's ridiculous because I'm too old and Beckett's too young for us to have that kind of relationship, but working out how this new dynamic is going to work is gonna take some time. For _all _of us. So I'm sorry if I reacted shocked before, Beckett, I _want _you to move in here because more than anything, Dad, I want you to be happy and I know how happy she makes you. It's just, you know, I'm not great with change and there's been _so _much of that already this year. But then again, as we've _all _been saying, it's not like you haven't basically been living here for the last 6 months so I guess not _that _much is changing."

Alexis ended her monologue smirking slightly from her father to Beckett.

For the next few moments the foursome sat quietly eating. Every now and then looking up from their plates to catch another's eye. None of them could miss the familiarity in the way they sat together, like it was something they had been doing for years. Eventually Beckett broke the silence.

"Where am I gonna keep my bike?"

"Oh, good question," Castle replied.

"Maybe you could rent Mrs Pierson's space. She sold her Bentley when Mr Pierson died and now she just uses a town car to get around," Alexis offered, before raising her chin and looking sideways at Beckett. "Or, you could teach me how to ride and lend it to me. It would be much easier getting home on a bike than in a taxi."

Beckett smiled and joined the game. "Actually, that's true. It _is_ much easier negotiating city traffic on a bike than in a car and I was younger than you when I got my Softail, so I'm sure it wouldn't take many lesson's for you to be fine on it."

Castle breathed audibly through flared nostrils while Beckett clenched her back teeth and tried not to break into the laughter that bubbled inside her.

Finally the man caught on. "Awww! You're both messing with me again aren't you."

"Yes... yes we are," Beckett managed to get the words out just before joining the other two women already chuckling at the table.

"_So_ not fair!"

"Oh, face it Richard, you've surrounded yourself with smart, attractive women, you're always going to be ganged up on."

Castle slumped in his seat, sulking in the realisation that his mother had never been more accurate in her observations. He raised his coffee cup to his lips and peered suspiciously over the top, eyeing the women as he slurped his drink.

Martha looked around the table a glint shining in her eye. "That is unless of course the whole reason Kate's moving in _now, _is because you two have already started on making me a grandson?"

Coffee mist filled the air.

* * *

**A/N**

**Well thats it folks. I'm musing on the idea of a sequel at some point but I want to let the story rest for a while before I re-visit. I cannot thank you all enough for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing. I have had SO much fun playing with these characters and am just grateful that affords the opportunity. **

**A MILLION thanks goes to my own 'Castle', who brings me coffee numerous times a day and not only encourages me to write but edits all my work as well. Love you more than CCKFC DaveMcDave.**

**Final disclaimer goes here. One day I may step through the looking glass and get to work on a show as ingeniously created as Castle but for now 24 weeks of the year I sit back and revel in the amazing work of others. So here's cheers to AWM and Merry Men (AND women).**


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